**To** ## **Trustees' Annual Report for the period** Period start date Period end date 01 Sept 2021 31 August 2022 **From** ## Section A Reference and administration details **Charity name Other names charity is known by Registered charity number (if any)** 1035503 **Charity's principal address** C/o Gotham Primary School Gotham Pre-School Playgroup Kegworth Road Gotham **Postcode NG11 0JS** ## **Names of the charity trustees who manage the charity** |1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17|**Trustee name**|**Office (if any)**|**Dates acted if not for whole**
**year **|**Name of person (or body) entitled**
**to appoint trustee (ifany)**| |---|---|---|---|---| ||Jen Walker|Chair|28/11/19 to 19/1/22|Committee| ||Jen Walker|Nominatedperson|19/1/22 onwards|Committee| ||Nicola Harrison|Treasurer|22/9/17 onwards|Committee| ||Rex Walker|Member|29/6/18 onwards|Committee| ||Jen Howard|Member|28/11/19 onwards|Committee| ||RoxyNicholls|Member|28/4/21 to 19/1/22|Committee| ||RoxyNicholls|Chair|19/1/22 onwards|Committee| ||Neil Thorley|Secretary|26/11/20 onwards|Committee| ||Jo Waldron|Member|19/1/22 onwards|Committee| ||Kim Burton|Member|19/1/22 onwards|Committee| |||||| |||||| |||||| |||||| |||||| |||||| |||||| ## **Names of the trustees for the charity, if any, (for example, any custodian trustees)** **Name Dates acted if not for whole year** **KT** Dec 2022 1 ## **Names and addresses of advisers (Optional information)** **Type of adviser Name Address Name of chief executive or names of senior staff members (Optional information)** ## **Section B Structure, governance and management** ## **Description of the charity’s trusts** Type of governing document Constitution adopted in 1985 & updated in 2006 & 2018 - (eg. trust deed, constitution) A voluntary management committee is elected annually from the How the charity is constituted attendees at the AGM, parents & current committee. The committee (eg. trust, association, company) employ & manage paid staff to run the pre-school. All elected committee members are appointed as trustees whilst they Trustee selection methods serve on the committee. (eg. appointed by, elected by) ## **Additional governance issues (Optional information)** You **may choose** to include additional information, where relevant, about: - policies and procedures adopted for the induction and training of trustees; - the charity’s organisational structure and any wider network with which the charity works; - relationship with any related parties; - trustees’ consideration of major risks and the system and procedures to manage them. The pre-school is a member of the Early Years Alliance (EYA), a national organisation which provides support to all Early Years settings. The preschool has regular contact and updates electronically from the EYA who offer support & training opportunities to all staff & committee members as needed. As a member of the EYA, the pre-school uses the templates written by the Alliance as a basis to our policies & procedures. These basic templates, covering all aspects laid down by legislation and Government direction, are then adapted to reflect our individual situation. These policies are reviewed annually at the AGM, or sooner, to include changes to legislation or Government guidance. Committee members are elected, re-elected or stand down at the Annual General Meeting, this year held on 19[th] January 2022 via Zoom. New committee members are generally parents, grandparents or carers of children currently attending the pre-school, although the committee would welcome applications from the local community wishing to offer their support. All prospective members are informed of their responsibilities, both as a committee member and a trustee. All major decisions concerning the management of the setting, including wages, capital spending, staff changes and fundraising activities are made during the regular committee meetings and recorded within the minutes which are subsequently distributed to all members and staff. These meetings are open to all parents should they wish to attend, although confidential items would not be discussed at these meetings. Should confidential items require discussion the chair would call an additional meeting. Whilst the pre-school is set within the local primary school, it is a completely separate entity, renting the available space from the school as agreed within a contract with the school’s Governing body. The setting receives a lot of support from the school, Governors and teaching staff, and has always felt welcome within the school. The playgroup staff work **KT** Dec 2022 2 closely with the reception class teaching staff throughout the year which results in smooth transitions from the pre-school to the reception class and benefits the child, the school and the playgroup. There is regular communication with the Head Teacher and the pre-school are invited to join in with whole school activities including World Book Day, Art Week, Sports Week, Children in Need and Pink (Breast Cancer Awareness) Day. The pre-school continues to be involved with the local scout group and the annual village bonfire, run jointly, by both groups is increasingly well attended and profitable event for both groups. Many current members of the scout groups were previous pre-school members and the same can be said of the committee members! The playgroup regularly visits the local library and takes regular walks to encourage the children to explore and notice their environment. The setting is registered with Ofsted and following an inspection in November 2018, retained the Good grading with a number of areas assessed as outstanding. ## **Section C Objectives and activities** **Summary of the objects of the charity set out in its governing document** The Charity aims to provide high quality, affordable and flexible sessional childcare and education for pre-school children from the local area. It does this by employing appropriately qualified staff in a warm, welcoming and stimulating environment. **KT** Dec 2022 3 The trustees have had regard to the guidance issued by the Charity Commission on public benefit and continue to work closely with the staff to maintain high standards of care and education for the children within the local community who access the setting. The staff are employed by the trustees to run Gotham Pre-School Playgroup by planning activities for the children based around government guidance as laid out in the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS). The focus of the staff, and the committee who make up the trustees, is to provide affordable, quality childcare and education for all pre-school aged children within the local community, whilst maintaining high training standards for all staff. **Summary of the main activities undertaken for the public benefit in relation to these objects (include within this section the statutory declaration that trustees have had regard to the guidance issued by the Charity Commission on public benefit)** Income raised by the charity is used to provide a safe & stimulating space with quality resources for all children, parents, carers, staff and volunteers to play, work and learn together. The pre-school encourages visits from parents and carers as well as trustees in any of its sessions and welcomes feedback and ideas generated by these visits. Parents/carers are encouraged to spend time in the setting to see how their child interacts with other children and join in with many of the activities on offer that day. The children have a daily range of activities, covering all areas of the EYFS, both inside and outside, having free-flow throughout the session promoting independence, decision making, responsibility, sharing, exercise and friendships. A main topic for the term will provide a basis for the majority of activities, and where possible smaller activities are linked into topics covered by the school; for example the annual book day in March. The children are also encouraged and supported in taking part in awareness days such as Breast Cancer Awareness, Comic Relief, Sports Relief and Children in Need, through activities and fund raising. The Pre-School Playgroup is available and accessible to all pre-school children from the local community. It has systems in place to manage special educational, dietary and medical needs, with excellent support from the EYA, Nottinghamshire County Council and Gotham Primary School. All staff are able to access specialised training as it is needed. Although based in a small village, a number of children access the setting from further away, ensuring that sessions are as well attended as possible in the current climate. **KT** Dec 2022 4 ## **Additional details of objectives and activities (Optional information)** Whilst the focus of the Pre-School is to provide education and childcare it is not immune to fundraising efforts of other organisations and is happy to contribute to fundraising for outside organisations, e.g. Red Nose Day and Breast Cancer Awareness, encouraging the children to think of other people less fortunate than them. You **may choose** to include further statements, where relevant, about: During the year, the trustees and committee organise and run several fundraising events for the charity. The money raised from these events is used to re-invest in the setting by updating equipment, providing resources and treating the children to new experiences such as Chinese New Year & Diwali. - policy on grantmaking; - policy programme related investment; - contribution made by volunteers. All the trustees are volunteers who provide their time freely when they are able. The setting is also very grateful for the support of parents and carers who volunteer their time to help during sessions. Having additional people in the setting is also very popular among the children who always have a lot of questions to ask of the “new” people. The committee organise & run all the fundraising activities which provide the charity with additional funds to assist with activities. **KT** Dec 2022 5 Section D Achievements and performance ## **Summary of the main achievements of the charity during the year** Entering the Playgroup’s 57[th] continuous year in operation the charity has continued to grow stronger. Covid-19 saw the setting down in numbers. Covid-19 also had an impact on the committee’s ability to fundraise. During times of increased costs, the trustees continue to strive to ensure that increases in costs (including a rent increase) are balanced with the need to ensure that the setting is still affordable to parents, whist still offering a stimulating and safe environment for all children. Fundraising continued throughout the year although to a lesser degree. Our yearly lottery 50/50 fundraiser was run as normal creating £291 funds while the other half of the money raised was paid back out in prize money. The Committee ran 2 Bingo & Bubbles nights open to the general community which were very well attended and raised £572 in November 2021 and £340 in April 2022 for Playgroup. This year the staff continued previous year’s Christmas fundraising by producing Christmas cards, mugs and other items with the children’s own designs raising a further £83.10 for the setting, with no initial cash outlay. The staff & committee also raised a further £322 in the Grand Christmas Raffle. The joint bonfire raised £2,910 for Playgroup. All the money raised during the fundraising and donations is used within the setting to enhance the experience of all the children. This included the purchase of new outdoor resources and equipment and money was also used to buy or replace resources within the setting and enhance our offering. The playgroup continues to enjoy an excellent relationship with the school with support from the Head Teacher, Governors, teaching and support staff. The usual regular visits to the reception class to prepare the older children for starting school in September are still not really happening following Covid-19 but the children had a transition week which meant the transition to the reception class was smooth. **KT** Dec 2022 6 ## **Section E Financial review** **Brief statement of the charity’s policy on reserves** The charity is maintaining its ability to set aside funds for reserves. We now have a dedicated ring-fenced account with funds set aside for emergency situations. **Details of any funds materially in deficit** ## **Further financial review details (Optional information)** You **may choose** to include additional information, where relevant about: - the charity’s principal sources of funds (including any fundraising); - how expenditure has supported the key objectives of the charity; - investment policy and objectives including any ethical investment policy adopted. The principle source of funding is the Nursery Education Grant (NEG) which allows all 3 & 4-year-old children to access up to 30 hours per week of childcare. Many children access additional hours within the setting which is paid for separately. Funding for 2 year olds as well as Special Educational Needs funding can also be accessed based on the individual child’s needs. The Trustees decided to raise the hourly fee rate to £5.75 per hour from April 2022 (an increase of 25p per hour). The biggest expense is our motivated and highly qualified staff all of whom are completely dedicated to providing the best care that they can for the children. The staff have regular planning sessions and meet each morning to discuss the coming day and any issues that may need to be addressed, depending on the children attending that day. They work very well together, encouraging and supporting each other in their roles. The Trustees aim to cover the cost of the staff and premises and basic resources from the income received in the form of fees and the Nursery Education Grant. Fundraising continues to be extremely important as this money is used to replace or renew equipment and additional resources to compliment topics and special occasions. The committee continue to meet regularly to plan fundraising events, deal with any staff requirements, look into additional funding sources as well as discuss changes to Government guidelines. Comprehensive minutes are kept of the meetings and issued to all trustees and staff. Regular newsletters are issued to parents with extra information as required. The staff & committee strive to consider best value in all purchases throughout the year, utilising their own experiences, time, contacts and resources to ensure the playgroup continues to offer all that it can to the children currently attending, as well as those on our waiting list for future places, whilst upholding the charitable aims of the pre-school – “To offer excellent affordable childcare to all children wishing to access it”. **KT** Dec 2022 7 ## **Section F Other optional information** ## **Section G Declaration** **The trustees declare that they have approved the trustees’ report above.** **Signed on behalf of the charity’s trustees** **Signature(s)** R.Nicholls **Full name(s)** Roxanne Nicholls **Position (eg Secretary, Chair,** Chair **etc) Date** 16/1/23 **KT** Dec 2022 8 ## **- Gotham Pre school Playgroup** Annual Accounts 2021/2022 (1/9/21 to 31/8/22) |**INCOME**|**2021/22**|**2020/21**| |---|---|---| |Grants & Donations|£830.81|£0.00| |Fees|£18,646.25|£18,681.50| |Funding|£42,606.84|£29,820.15| |Fundraising|£4,350.46|£1,055.34| |50/50 Membership|£547.00|£613.00| |Miscellaneous|£781.69|£551.78| |Clothing/Book bags|£217.50|£120.00| |PettyCash In|£0.00|£0.00| |Resources|£0.00|£0.00| |Savings Account Interest|£5.43|£1.51| |**TOTAL**|£67,985.98|£50,843.28| |**EXPENDITURE**|**2021/22**|**2020/21**| |Wages,PAYE and Pensions|£45,879.55|£46,489.35| |Rent|£6,343.09|£5,816.60| |Capital Expenditure|£47.94|£399.99| |Clothing|£400.92|£266.10| |Groceries|£309.26|£245.05| |Consumables|£711.06|£404.78| |Resources|£1,591.50|£799.79| |Insurance|£738.31|£725.61| |Subscriptions|£171.95|£411.99| |Miscellaneous|£1,487.30|£6,356.30| |Fundraising|£1,011.39|£268.70| |Sundries|£0.00|£0.00| |Professional Fees|£268.00|£707.10| |Telephone,Post & Printing|£410.82|£462.19| |Course expenses|£24.00|£122.00| |50/50prize draw|£205.00|£395.00| |**TOTAL**|£59,600.09|£63,870.55| |**TOTAL EXPENDITURE**
**TOTAL INCOME**|**£59,600.09**
**£67,985.98**|**£63,870.55**
**£50,843.28**| |**NETT INCOME**|**£8,385.89**|**-£13,027.27**| |Current Account B/F
Petty Cash B/F
Savings Account B/F
**TOTAL FUNDS**
Bank Balances C/F
Petty Cash Balance C/F
Savings Account Balance C/F
**TOTAL FUNDS**||| |||£23,173.76| |||£0.00| |||£15,056.19| |||**£38,229.95**| |||| ||£26,554.22|| ||£0.00|| ||£20,061.62|| ||**£46,615.84**|| ## **Independent examiner's report on the accounts** **Section A Independent Examiner’s Report** **Report to the trustees/** Charity Name **members of** Gotham Pre-school Playgroup |**On accounts for the year**
**ended**|31 August 2022|**Charity no**
**(if any)**|1035503| |---|---|---|---| **Set out on pages** (remember to include the page numbers of additional sheets) I report to the trustees on my examination of the accounts of the above charity (“the Trust”) for the year ended 31 August 2022. **Responsibilities and** As the charity's trustees, you are responsible for the preparation of the **basis of report** accounts in accordance with the requirements of the Charities Act 2011 (“the Act”). I report in respect of my examination of the Trust’s accounts carried out under section 145 of the 2011 Act and in carrying out my examination, I have followed all the applicable Directions given by the Charity Commission under section 145(5)(b) of the Act. **Independent** I have completed my examination. I confirm that no material matters have **examiner's statement** come to my attention in connection with the examination which gives me cause to believe that in, any material respect: - the accounting records were not kept in accordance with section 130 of the Charities Act; or - the accounts did not accord with the accounting records; or - the accounts did not comply with the applicable requirements concerning the form and content of accounts set out in the Charities (Accounts and Reports) Regulations 2008 other than any requirement that the accounts give a ‘true and fair’ view which is not a matter considered as part of an independent examination. I have no concerns and have come across no other matters in connection with the examination to which attention should be drawn in this report in order to enable a proper understanding of the accounts to be reached. **Signed: Name: Relevant professional qualification(s) or body (if any):** **Date:** **Address:** **Oct 2018** 1 **IER** ## **Section B Disclosure** Only complete if the examiner needs to highlight material matters of concern (see CC32, Independent examination of charity accounts: directions and guidance for examiners). **Give here brief details of any items that the examiner wishes to disclose** . **Oct 2018** 2 **IER**